Community responds to Portsmouth mom's death

PORTSMOUTH — Corie Jabre, 30, a Portsmouth native, is remembered for being a laid back mom who wanted nothing but the best for her children.

By Samantha Allensallen@fosters.com

PORTSMOUTH — Corie Jabre, 30, a Portsmouth native, is remembered for being a laid back mom who wanted nothing but the best for her children.

The mother of four — with 3-month-old twins — died in Portsmouth Regional Hospital Saturday, Jan. 13, from complications due to a respiratory infection.

In a quick reaction, Corie's devoted friends and relatives sprung into action to ensure her children would have the brightest future, launching an online media campaign on Sunday.

In 24 hours, the Jabre family raised $10,000 in donations along with thousands of ounces of donated breast milk.

“We have more breast milk than we know what to do with,” Brandie Jabre, Corie's sister, said over the phone on her way home to Effingham from her parents' home in the Port City.

Corie was a 2000 graduate of Portsmouth High School, and while mothering a child in her school years, Brandie said her younger sister graduated from an alternative program. Her eldest boys today are 16 and 10 years old.

With the recent birth of her twins, also in Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Brandie said her sister was trying to be a good mom while fighting off a bad cold.

Brandie, an EMT, said her sister assumed the illness was due to the flu or some kind of virus she caught from her babies. But as her sister's cough grew worse, Brandie said she urged her to go to the doctor and get it checked out.

She went to see her physician on Friday and then died in the hospital the following day.

Brandie said her childhood best friend, Barbara Martinez, originally from Kittery, Maine, who now lives in Boston, stepped in to help the family while they were overwhelmed with the loss of their beloved daughter and sister.

Brandie's mother and father will be assuming the care of Corie's children, their grandchildren. Corie did not have life insurance.

Martinez said she promoted the family's story on giveforward.com and JPMoms.com, an online community for mothers in the Jamaica Plain, Mass., area. From there, Martinez said she received an “overwhelming” response from families all over the country who wanted to help out. She noted the fundraising campaign on giveforward.com, which will end this Saturday, was originally set up to cover funeral costs, but now the funds will go toward providing future financial support to Corie's four children.

“Corie was a wonderful mother and she loved her children. She did everything to protect them,” Martinez said. “Women are writing me who knew her as part of their breastfeeding classes and saying they remember the kids. They know how much she wanted them to have breast milk and want to ship that to us and I know that I would feel the same way if it were me. I'm just trying to do what I know Corie would want.”

Brandie said the love and care coming from the community has been a pleasant surprise to her family. There has been so much response the family has had to ask people to stop calling and visiting their parents' house so she and her siblings have time to process and grieve their loss.

She noted when one of her friends went to the store to pick up some everyday items for the Jabres, including a pair of baby socks for the newborns, a man commented, “Those must be for twins.” The friend started crying and shared the family's story and Brandie said the man ran out of the store to hand the woman $50 to help out with the difficult times.

“It's a very kind thing to see,” Brandie said. “People doing these things aren't expecting anything back. They're doing these things just to be kind to people.”

Martinez noted after the fundraiser ends this weekend, the family may work to coordinate other fundraising efforts. She said all donated funds will be deposited into a trust for the boys.

“It's all about Corie and what we can do to help,” Martinez said. “It's just really wonderful and really heartwarming to see how many people want to reach out and help.”

For more information and ways to donate to the family, visit www.giveforward.com/memorialfundforcoriejabre.

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